Quick book pick
After Thailand, I had the choice between Harare or London. I joked to people afterwards that it was a choice I agonized over for about 20 seconds. But that's an easy shot, and, furthermore, not actually true. I did agonize over it, because Harare clearly offered the more interesting work assignment, and -- further truth -- I was scared to go there alone.
So I picked London. Very shortly thereafter, I met K, was traumatized by my London job as predicted, and became embittered with my career.
Perhaps because it was my first alternate-worlds branching in what was quickly to become a string of such choices, I've continued to ponder this particular counterfactual in great detail. What if I'd gone to Harare? Well, I almost certainly wouldn't have met K, and that's (probably) bad. But I might have enjoyed my work and not have developed a toxic attitude toward my employer, and that'd (probably) have been good. Finishing the tour without government harassment or incident? Unknown. In the course of these ruminations, I've ended up following the situation in Zimbabwe closely, getting caught up in the human drama quite apart from my missed connection with it.
All of which is a lengthy introduction for Peter Godwin's When a Crocodile Eats the Sun. I don't often read nonfiction, but this is as novelistic a memoir as they come, and the best I've encountered, across genres, for giving a person the actual sense of having been in Zimbabwe during the start of its downward spiral. It's a quick read without being an easy one, because one gulps it down, seduced into entering uneasy emotional territory by the surefootedness of the prose and the promise -- completely kept -- that things won't turn maudlin. If you follow the Zimbabwean crisis, the book rounds out your understanding with a nuanced personal dimension and genuine insight into the problematic notion of the white African. If you don't follow the news from Zimbabwe -- well, first of all, after reading this, you will -- the book painlessly instructs, offering a foundation with which to better comprehend the present (under-reported) electoral standoff, while sweeping you up in the expertly-narrated story of an extraordinary family.
Highly recommended for all.
So I picked London. Very shortly thereafter, I met K, was traumatized by my London job as predicted, and became embittered with my career.
Perhaps because it was my first alternate-worlds branching in what was quickly to become a string of such choices, I've continued to ponder this particular counterfactual in great detail. What if I'd gone to Harare? Well, I almost certainly wouldn't have met K, and that's (probably) bad. But I might have enjoyed my work and not have developed a toxic attitude toward my employer, and that'd (probably) have been good. Finishing the tour without government harassment or incident? Unknown. In the course of these ruminations, I've ended up following the situation in Zimbabwe closely, getting caught up in the human drama quite apart from my missed connection with it.
All of which is a lengthy introduction for Peter Godwin's When a Crocodile Eats the Sun. I don't often read nonfiction, but this is as novelistic a memoir as they come, and the best I've encountered, across genres, for giving a person the actual sense of having been in Zimbabwe during the start of its downward spiral. It's a quick read without being an easy one, because one gulps it down, seduced into entering uneasy emotional territory by the surefootedness of the prose and the promise -- completely kept -- that things won't turn maudlin. If you follow the Zimbabwean crisis, the book rounds out your understanding with a nuanced personal dimension and genuine insight into the problematic notion of the white African. If you don't follow the news from Zimbabwe -- well, first of all, after reading this, you will -- the book painlessly instructs, offering a foundation with which to better comprehend the present (under-reported) electoral standoff, while sweeping you up in the expertly-narrated story of an extraordinary family.
Highly recommended for all.
1 Comments:
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Anonymous said...
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- 2:05 AM
Post a CommentHARARE????? Are you mad? Well of course you are, but in the charming way. But Harare? What's the matter? Turned off by the extensive food availability and entertainment options in Port-au-prince? Or maybe Maputo (Mozambique) was too dull? (After all, they're hardly shooting people in the streets any more...). I mean, why fool around, if that's what you want--I'm sure you could find something to do in COLUMBIA or maybe Somalia.
A few months ago, NPR was interviewing some Brit who used to live in Zimbawe. He bought a fairly large farm in 1976 for about 70,000 Zimbawe dollars. In contrast, that week the government just issued the 10 million dollar bill, and then in April of this year, they issued a 50 million dollar bill--and that will buy you about three loaves of bread. The inflation rate is over 100,000%.
Harare, instead of London. Right....
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